OpTic Texas have officially extended Byron ‘Prolute’ Vera’s contract with the franchise, after a successful stint subbing in for the injured Inder ‘iLLeY’ Dhaliwal.
iLLeY has been absent since the Pro-Am Classic, only playing one series before OpTic’s substitute Jordon ‘General’ General stepped in.
While iLLeY was hoping to be back in time to get Major 3 underway, his return has been delayed by ongoing issues with a thumb injury.
With that situation still somewhat unclear and no return date given, OpTic have decided to lock in Prolute for the foreseeable future, with Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez revealing that they were extending his contract on the OpTic podcast.
Timestamp 13:15
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Prolute was brought in for Major 3 qualifiers and has shone, with a 1.17 KD in the series he’s played at the time of writing, ranking seventh in this qualifying period despite having little practice with his teammates or against the elite competition he’s currently facing.
- Read More: Reverse Sweep: OpTic is in FaZe Clan’s head
OpTic Texas remains undefeated throughout Major 3 qualifiers, again beating closest rivals Atlanta FaZe in Week 2, and Prolute had his way with them throughout the match.
While H3CZ made clear that Prolute was staying on as a substitute, and that the spot is iLLeY’s, he’ll no doubt be delighted to be keeping someone of Prolute’s calibre under the OpTic banner, while struggling franchises will be keeping an eye out to see if he becomes available in the future.
This news comes just days before the third and final week of Major 3 qualifiers, ahead of the LAN tournament hosted by Toronto Ultra from June 2-5. Fans believe that Prolute will play through the Major 3 LAN at which point the iLLeY situation will be reassessed, and he could return for Major 4.